Customer Reviews

moshi iLynx - USB / Firewire Hub

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had been shopping for a reliable USB hub that wasn't badly designed or a ton of obnoxious blinky lights that looked like an arcade game.

I gave up and then stumbled across the Moshi iLynx USB/Firewire hub. It was really kind of a eureka moment, specific to a niche need.

I'm happy with the purchase. The iLynx is well made, probably as well or better than other USB hubs, but I think it important to note a few "reality checks."

The hub doesn't use a external power supply, instead it draws power by connecting to a USB and Firewire port on your computer. So, your net gain is 3 USB ports and 1 Firewire port.

While it's a beautiful and elegant design, it's a bit of an ergonomic and visual challenge to access the ports. It is probably better suited for long term connections. To their credit they do include some nice short extension USB and Firewire cables to make life easier.

The hub doesn't seem to power down when the computer is shut down which can be a problem if you external hard drives are designed to shut down with the computer.

Shipping was free and fast, but did not live up to Amazon's standards of packaging. It was shipped in a padded envelope. The third party include with the package an explanation that it is an effort to be green and ship with minimal packaging. I appreciate the sentiment, but considered it risky and would have preferred something a bit sturdier. The iLynx is tightly boxed with light boxboard which didn't survive the shipping. The iLynx itself was in good condition.

I was surprised, when I began looking, to find very few cheap hubs with both firewire and usb. This works perfectly for my application: connected to my macbook, I can run two external hds (2 firewire, 2 usb), verizon hotspot (1 usb), my mouse (1 usb), a card reader for my camera (1 usb), and still have one usb port leftover for something else, no problems. A little larger than what I wanted, I suppose because it is designed to fit under an imac, but it's functional so no big deal, and I can pack it up and throw it in my laptop bag with everything else, pretty sturdy little device.

Also comes with 1 usb male-female extension cable, 1 6 pin firewire 400 male-female extension cable, and a 6 pin (female)-9 pin (male) firewire 400-800 adapter cable, just fyi.

Great product for anyone with similar needs, and reasonably priced considering the competition.

this thing is perfect for any aluminum imac ... the big plus's are

1. NO power Cord
2. Cleanest usb hub for your imac
3. Well designed
4. Firewire

yes no extra power needed ... usb works without any hiccups ... firewire works great

comes with extra cables ... plastic body vs aluminum ... small minus ( i would have preferred some heft)

the moshi logo stays lit ... can be distracting to some ... however it's not overly bright.

if you own any imac and are in need of 4 extra usb and 2 extra firewire ... buy this now!

I needed the extra ports for importing from all my video cameras and photo cameras and iphone and more. Some are firewire and some usb. The only complaint I have in the 2 months I've had it, is that the iPad won't charge from the hub. I'm not sure if this is an ipad issue. Other than that, works great!

I love this product. It works exactly as advertised and it looks great with my iMac. I am running an Apogee Duet Firewire Interface, a Western Digital My Book Home Edition 1 TB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive WDH1CS10000N (using Firewire), a Thermaltake BlacX eSATA USB Docking Station (via USB), a CyberPower CP1350AVRLCD Intelligent LCD Green UPS - 1350VA/810W AVR 8-Outlet RJ11/45/Coax (via USB data connection), while the other two USB ports get used with USB Flash drives or other peripherals that aren't plugged in for long periods of time.

It has had no problem powering any of my devices. Just make sure that you have the built in USB and Firewire cables plugged into your PC/Mac give sufficient power to any devices you might plug into the iLynx. I would recommend it to anyone that has the need for two firewire ports when you only have one. It comes with all the cables you would need to get started, including extension cables for USB and Firewire. There is a Firewire 400 to 800 cable included as well. One thing I really like is that it has built in cables for connection to your PC/Mac. Overall the build quality is great, the cables are built to last as well.

With all the alternatives to USB 2.0, and USB 3.0 hung up, fewer USB ports are being provided on portables. The new external USB hard drives take two USB ports to get enough power. What to do? If the option of getting an externally powered USB hub is unattractive, then this box is a viable alternative for computers with a firewire port. You might need a firewire gender changer but Amazon has one of those.

I have had nothing but problems with this device. It doesn't work with certain drives including if you have a drive of Mac OS Time Machine. Other drives it will just dismount randomly. I wouldn't buy this device!